9. The Great Stone Face – I

Ch 9 The Great Stone Face – I  Honeydew English

(Page
no: 129)

Write ‘True’ or ‘False’ against each of
the following statements.

1. The Great Stone Face stood near where Ernest and his mother lived.  False
2. One would clearly distinguish the features of the Stone Face only
from a distance. True
3. Ernest loved his mother and helped her in her work. True
4. Though not very rich, Gathergold was a skilful merchant. False
5. Gathergold died in poverty and neglect. True
6. The Great Stone Face seemed to suggest that Ernest should not fear
the general. False

Page no: 130

Working
with Text

1.
(i) What was the Great Stone Face?
(ii) What did young Ernest wish when he gazed at it?
Answer– (i) The Great Stone Face was a work of nature. It was
formed on the side of a mountain by some huge rocks. They had been thrown
together in such a position so that, when viewed from some distance, they
resembled the face of a human face. If the spectator approached too near, the outline
of the face would disappear into a heap of gigantic rocks. It was the belief of
many people that the valley owed much of its fertility to the kind face of the
Great Stone that was continually looking over it.

 

(ii) Young Ernest gazed at the Great Stone Face. It smiled at
him. Ernest wished that it could speak because it looked very kindly. He
thought its voice must be pleasant. He would love the man dearly whoever bore
such face.

2. What was the story attributed to the Stone Face?
Answer– The story that was attributed to the Stone Face was
that at some future day, a child would be born near there, and he would be
destined to become the greatest and noblest person of his time. His face, in
manhood, would bear an exact resemblance to the Great Stone Face.

3. What gave the people of the valley the idea that the prophecy was
about to come true for the first time?

Answer– There was a rumour in the valley that the great man, who
would look like the Great Stone Face, had appeared at last. a young man, named
Gathergold had left the valley. He had grown a rich merchant by the time he
became old. He had decided to return to his native valley. He had the living
likeness of the Great Stone Face. It made the people of the valley think that
the prophecy was about to come true for the first time.

4. (i) Did Ernest see in Gathergold the likeness of the Stone Face?
(ii) Who did he confide in and how was he proved right?

Answer– (i) No, Ernest did not see the likeness of the Great
Stone Face in Gathergold.
(ii) Ernest confided in his own heart that the Gathergold was not the right
person he was waiting for. He was proved right because Gathergold died after
some time. He was then a poor man. All the people, then, said that he had no
likeness with the stone face.

5. (i) What made people believe General Blood-and-Thunder was their man?
(ii) Ernest compared the man’s face with the Stone Face. What did he conclude?

Answer

 

(i) General Blood-and-Thunder rose to his present position in
defence from a soldier. He desired to return to his native valley. The
residents of the valley said that he bore the likeness of the Great Stone Face.
His childhood friends also said that the General had always looked like the
Great Stone Face. It made people believe ‘General Blood-and-Thunder’ was their
man.

(ii) Ernest compared the face of Blood-and-thunder with the Great Stone Face.
He could not recognize any similarity between them. His heart assured him that
the General was not the right person he was waiting for. So Ernest concluded
that the greatest and the noblest man of his time bearing the resemblance to
the Great Stone Face had yet to come.

Working with Language

1. Write the noun forms of the
following words by adding -ness or -ity to them appropriately. Check the
spelling of the new words.

(i) lofty ______________
(ii) able ______________

(iii)
happy ______________

(iv)
near ______________
(v) noble ______________
(vi) enormous ______________
(vii) pleasant ______________
(viii) dense ______________
(ix) great ______________
(x) stable ______________

Answer

 

(i) loftiness
(ii) ability
(iii) happiness
(iv) nearness
(v) nobility
(vi) enormity
(vii) pleasantly
(viii) density
(ix) greatness
(x) stability

2. Add -ly to each of the following
adjectives, then use them to fill in the blanks.

(i) Why didn’t you turn up at the meeting? We all were _______ waiting for you.
(ii) _________ write your name and address in capital letters.
(iii) I was _________ surprised to see him at the railway station. I
thought he was not coming.
(iv) It is _________ believable that I am not responsible for this mess.
(v) He fell over the step and _________ broke his arm.

Answer

(i) Why didn’t you turn up at the meeting? We all were eagerly waiting
for you.

(ii) Kindly write your name and address in capital letters.

(iii) I was pleasantly surprised to see him at the
railway station. I thought he was not coming.

(iv) It is perfectly believable that I am not responsible for this mess.

(v) He fell over the step and nearly broke his arm.

Page no: 131

3. Complete each sentence below using
the appropriate forms of the verbs in brackets.

(i) I _________ (phone) you when I _________ (get) home from school.
(ii) Hurry up! Madam _________ (be) annoyed if we _________ (be) late.
(iii) If it _________ (rain) today, we _________ (not) go to the play.
(iv) When you _________ (see) Mandal again, you _________ (not/recognise) him.
He is growing a beard.
(v) We are off today. We _________ (write) to you after we _________ (be) back.

Answer

(i) I will phone you when I will get home from school.

(ii) Hurry up! Madam will be annoyed if we are late.

(iii) If it rains today, we will not go to the play.

(iv) When you see Mandal again, you will not recognize him. He is
growing a beard.

(v) We are off today. We will write to you after we are back.

Speaking and Writing

1. Imagine you are Ernest. Narrate the story that his mother told him. Begin
like this: My mother and I were sitting at the door of our cottage. We were
looking at the Great Stone Face. I asked her if she had ever seen anyone who
looked like the Stone Face. Then she told me this story

Answer

 

On an afternoon, my mother and I were sitting at the door of our
cottage. Our eyes looking at The Great Stone Face. Suddenly I asked a question
after my mom did she saw anybody that resembles the face of Great Stone. After
hearing this mom started story related to prophesy of that Great Stone Face.
She said that there is a belief that one day a childbearing exact resemblance
to the Great Stone Face, in manhood, would take birth nearby and would be
destined to be the noblest and the greatest person of his time. Some people
believe in the old prophecy and others take it as an idle tale.